Straight off the Press
by Swanandapirate
Summary: Emma needs to get home as soon as possible, but her flight is delayed. How is she going to fix it and why is the guy next to her so focused on his newspaper?


**A/N: Attention, attention. I've done it. I've actually written an AU :) This is my sixth entry for my ff writing week**

 **Only one more to go :( Hope you like it and if you don't, well there's a reason I always write my " this probably sucks " disclaimers.**

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry to announce that flight K305E with destination Boston, Massachusetts has been delayed for an unknown period of time. For more information, please visit one of our offices or consult our website. Thank you."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me right now!" Emma exclaimed.

Of all the things that could've gone wrong this was by far the worst. It was 9 am, she was in a London airport and she was stuck there.

For his birthday last year, Neal, Tamara and Emma pitched in to give Henry a week of author's camp. He had been going on and on about it and it was clear that a passion for writing had formed. They decided that Neal was going to drive him there and that Emma was going to pick him up, because Neal and Tamara went on a trip to her parents.

But Emma suddenly had a complete week without any responsibilities. Since Henry's birth she hadn't had any time off. For the first 9 years of his life she was all alone, so that wasn't really possible, except for the occasional night out. When Neal then made his reappearance with a fiancée that loved kids, Henry got to spend some weekends at Neal's place.

Things like doing the dishes and cleaning the house took the upper hand in those two days and before Emma knew it, her weekend was over. While she was having dinner with the girls, telling them all about it, and Henry was with Neal, Ruby told her something in the lines of "Treat yo' self." and that was exactly what Emma did. She had some spare cash, booked a flight to London and spent five days there.

 _Dear parents._

 _The camp Write Your Own Happy Ending is coming to an end. Please consider this a reminder that you are all expected on July 19th at 2 pm to pick up your young authors._

 _Sincerely_

 _Isaac Heller_

Emma had planned everything perfectly. She was going to land in Boston at 11 am, take a cab home, drop her bags there, eat and drive the Bug to the camp, but with this delay her schedule could completely fail.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck" she muttered again.

She wanted to call someone to make some kind of back up plan, but it was 4 am in Boston and she didn't want to wake anyone up. In the corner of her eyes a man was silently laughing and Emma had a feeling that is was not the newspaper in his hand, but her who was the source of his amusement. He decided to speak up.

"I take it you're not too fond of sudden changes, love?"

"Not your love and no, I don't like it when flights are delayed."

"Did you at least like England?" he said with an accent that betrayed his origins.

"Yeah, I did. Until everything turned to shit only minutes ago."

"Watch your language, there are children present."

"I'll say whatever the fuck I want to say, whenever the fuck I want to say it."

A mother walked past with her young daughter and with a disapproving look towards her and Emma felt quite guilty.

"I told you, lass." he said.

Emma didn't like him. He was a know-it-all.

"I'm Killian, by the way."

"Well, Killian. Thanks for the introduction, but I'm going to get some food, so bye."

She stood up, taking her suitcase with her and subtly looked back at him. He placed a pair of black glasses on his nose and continued reading his newspaper.

When Emma returned the only seat left in the terminal was next to, karma was a bitch, Killian. She sat down and started to eat her sandwich. His voice returned.

"I don't mean to pry, lass, but it seems that someone is trying to contact you."

And indeed, her phone, that was lying on her leather jacket, showed the name Henry. She calculated in her head and chose the appropriate greeting.

"Henry Oliver Swan, why are you awake at five in the morning?"

"Don't worry, mom. I needed to go to the bathroom and I knew that your flight was leaving."

Another announcement started playing over the speakers.

"Emma Marie Swan, why are you not on a plane?" he returned the favor.

"My flight got delayed. I don't even know when it's boarding."

"Will you be able to pick me up?" her son asked.

"I'm going to try, Henry."

"Okay, good. Love you."

"I love you too. Now go back to sleep." She ended their conversation.

The stranger, Killian, was so focused on his newspaper, that Emma didn't buy it.

"Can I help you?"

"No, all is well, lo- lass." He corrected himself.

"Good."

Another hour passed and Emma was starting to lose hope of even getting back to the States. Finally the woman's voice on the speaker put Emma out of her misery.

"Ladies and gentlemen. The boarding of flight K305E with destination Boston, Massachusetts is now starting at gate 10."

Yes! Emma had to take the cab directly to the place Henry was staying, but she could still make it. Her phone rang again.

"Henry, you should be sleeping! My flight is leaving in thirty minutes, so I'll be there right on time."

"Mom, it's alright. I already called uncle David and he said he would come and pick me up after work."

"Wait, what?" Emma was confused.

"I took care of it. Now get on that plane and I'll meet you at home." He hung up and Emma stood still for a moment.

Her 12-year old just fixed the problem she had been worrying about for hours with one phone call. Wow, he was amazing.

She felt as if she was finally able to breathe and went to her boarding gate.

Row 20, seat C.

She squirmed herself between the people blocking the aisle and searched her place. She saw black hair and blue eyes and she damned every god and goddess that had ever existed. Mr. Newspaper was sitting in row 20, seat A. Emma hoped that the person who had gotten seat B would show up, but 2 minutes before takeoff it was clear that it was just going to be the two of them.

Some time into the flight Emma decided to apologize, because she hadn't been the kindest person, that was an understatement, that she could've be. The newspaper had made place for a novel in his hands and Emma went for it.

"Excuse me." He looked up.

"Hi, I'm the woman from before, in the terminal? I just wanted to say sorry for that. I was kinda freaking out and yeah… Sorry."

He closed his book and took his glasses off.

"No worries, lass. I sensed that you were stressed out about something. I merely tried to shift your worries a bit." He smiled while he spoke.

"Would you like to try this again?" Emma agreed.

"Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Killian."

"Hi Killian. I'm Emma."

"Did you like England, Emma?" He repeated his question from before.

"Yes, I loved it! This was my first travel out of the US and I've enjoyed every moment. Speaking of America. Is this your first time visiting?"

"Actually I have lived in Boston for 3 years now, but I went back to close some personal affairs."

Emma was curious and not so subtle because he quickly explained.

"My brother passed away in a boating accident a few months ago and I needed to go back to pick up some things he left me in his will." Emma instantly regretted being so obvious.

"I'm sorry."

"Aye, well. At least he died doing what he loved."

Whenever difficult subjects like death or betrayal were discussed, Emma always wanted to end the conversation as soon as possible, but she didn't here. They spoke some more about loss and life and then the food cart came by. He asked her if she wanted anything and she said no.

She was lying.

He ordered two bags of m&m's. One with peanuts and one without. She gave him a questioning look.

"What? I like to have several options."

About fifteen minutes later he asked again if she wanted anything. This time she did take the bag of peanut m&m's. She had nearly eaten the entire bag when she offered the rest.

"It's okay, lass. I don't like the peanut ones."

They spoke of shallow things like their favorite restaurant in Boston (Killian chose a seafood restaurant, Emma chose the place where the best grilled cheeses were made: Granny's.) and of their lives.

Emma told all about Henry and Killian told all about his best friend Belle and her son. Emma was opening up and that was something that rarely happened. It was probably the fact that after today she didn't have to and would never see him again.

"Okay, I'm going to go to the bathroom.

Emma walked to the bathroom and when she returned the seatbelt-on sign was lit up. They landed and at the baggage claim they said goodbye.

"So, it's been an honor, lass. Thank you for making my flight somewhat more entertaining."

"You're welcome and I want to apologize again for our first encounter."

"Apology accepted." His phone rang and he said:

"That's Belle, she's picking me up. I need to go. Bye, Emma."

He waved and started walking away. Emma couldn't help herself and shouted one more thing.

"What's your last name?"

"Jones." he replied.

"Don't you wanna know mine?" she said when his question never came.

"I don't need it." And he left without looking back.

Emma didn't know what had just happened, but she did know that her kid was waiting at home on her, so she called a cab and got in. The ride took about 40 minutes and she didn't have anything interesting on her phone. She went through her bag in search of the magazine she bought before the flight, but something else caught her eye. A newspaper. A small text was written in black marker.

 _Hi, lass. Thank you for cheering me up after these hard times. If you would ever like to try the seafood I was talking about just call this number. -K_

 _P.S. Emma Swan, right? It suits you, Swan. Give my best to Henry._

How did he know?

Right, the phone call she had with Henry. The sneaky bastard had been listening from the start.

Well, she definitely knew what she was going to do when she got home. Hug Henry, thank David and maybe call a certain person.


End file.
